It's Tim Wakefield Day at Fenway Park, and what better way to pay respects to the old knuckle baller than by posting a random box score on a barely-existent blog.
With that, let's set the Box Score Bank for . . .
June 4, 1995
Bill Clinton was in his third year as President. The Motaba virus was running rampant through American movie theaters. "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?" by Canadian prime minister Bryan Adams was No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Jose Iglesias was five years old.
And over at Fenway Park, 28-year-old Tim Wakefield was spinning a 10-inning complete game masterpiece.
Final Score: Red Sox 2, Mariners 1
Seriously, though: 10 innings.
Boston Red Sox
In all, Wakein the third start of his Red Sox careerthrew 135 pitches and gave up only six hits, one run (unearned) and one walk, while striking out five to earn the win. But as you can imagine, it wasn't easy.
Seattle's one run came in the top of the 10th inning, when Mike Blowers led off with a single, and moved to second on a bunt by future Red Sox legend Darren Bragg. Wake hit the next batter (Dan Wilson) to put runners on first and second. Next up, was Felix Fermin who grounded back to the mound . . . but Wakefield threw the ball away! Blowers scored on the error (so while the run was unearned, it was still Wake's fault) to put the Mariners up 1-0, and that was the score as they headed into the bottom of the 10th.
There, Bobby Ayala took over for the M's, struck out Wes Chamberlain, gave up a pinch-hit single to Bil Haselman and then . . .
Troy O'Leary followed with a two-run walk off homer to give Wakefield the legendary complete game victory.
It was the second and final 10-inning performance of Wake's career, along with April 27, 1993, when he threw 172 pitches in the Pirates 6-2 win.
Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http:twitter.comrich_levine